Average cost of supporting Premiership club £1,331

The average regular fan of a Premiership football team forked out £1,331 supporting their side in 2007, according to new research from Virgin Money.

But the poll of over 2,000 regular supporters also revealed the extent of fans’ expenditure over the course of a calendar year, with thousands spending extravagant sums of money on tickets, merchandise, travel, food, alcohol and match programmes as the cost of following a Premiership football team continues to rise.

The new Virgin Money figures – published as part of its regular Football Fans Inflation Index – show that the average British football fan across all divisions spent around £1,080 following their team in 2007. That amounts to almost five per cent of the UK average annual salary.

However the expense of following a Premiership team was for some significantly higher – the average Premiership fan paid £251 more for tickets and match day essentials in 2007 compared to the national average.

And a significant proportion of Premiership fans forked out massive sums throughout the year as they followed their side. One in eight fans (12%) paid out as much as £3,000 for match tickets alone, and around one in fourteen (7%) spent between £300 and £500 on club merchandise such as scarves, posters and strips.

Travel also put a dent in many fans’ pockets – the average amount spent on match day travel across the country was some £286, although Premiership fans typically paid more – £357.50 on average – and five per cent of supporters of Premier League clubs paid over £1,000 on match day travel.

Virgin Money – which has been tracking the cost of being a football fan for two years – says fans’ finances are being stretched to breaking point by a combination of the rising cost of basic essentials such as petrol, food and energy plus the extra strain caused by a tough financial climate.

The company warns that fans’ reduced disposable income could discourage fans from attending live games and might reduce spending on merchandise.

Virgin Money spokesman John Franklin said: “2008 will be a real struggle for football fans, regardless of the team they support. While it’s true that some clubs have made efforts to reduce ticket prices in an effort to attract more people to match days, the majority of regular football fans will be hard hit by the cost of going to games.

“And while 2007 saw some tough financial conditions, the outlook for 2008 is potentially even worse, meaning people’s expenditure on football will eat into their disposable income even further. Football is a passion and regular fans will not sacrifice their love of the game, even in a tough financial climate.”

Virgin Money’s Football Fans’ Price Index shows that in the past two years the cost of attending games has risen by 9.28 per cent. The index is aimed at helping supporters keep track of the rises and falls in the costs of supporting their team. The company identified the match day essentials fans buy and keeps tabs on increases and decreases.

At the launch of the index in January 2006, the match day basket of goods cost £77.95. However the most recent analysis puts the cost at £85.19 – a rise of £7.24, or 9.28 per cent. By comparison, over the same period the Consumer Price Index has risen by only 4.9 per cent. An increase in the cost of petrol, match tickets and replica shirts is the main reason behind the increase.

The Football Supporters Federation added that ticket prices continue to remain too high for the average fan.

Malcolm Clarke, Chairman of the Football Supporters Federation, commented: “We applaud those clubs taking action to bring down ticket prices. We also welcome the Football League’s ‘Fans of the Future’ initiative.

“However those clubs, particularly in the Premier League, who have put them up this season like Manchester United, Spurs and West Ham United, should hang their heads in shame. With the huge new broadcasting deal what possible excuse can there be for making football even more unaffordable?

“In the 1991/2 season the cheapest seat at Arsenal was £10. In today’s money that’s £15.44 or £16.70 adjusted for rising wages. The cheapest seat at Arsenal this season is £32. That goes up to a whopping £46 for the big European and derby matches, as well as United and Liverpool.

“How can football possibly justify more than doubling ticket prices in real terms at a time when the game is swimming in television money? A time will come soon when football will look around at all the empty spaces in the stands and ask itself, ‘Where did they all go?’ That’s a real worry.”

Virgin Money’s Football Fans’ Prices Index runs every three months and looks at the cost of a typical basket of goods monitoring the ups and downs of prices.

The firm’s research team examines the cost of items such as a gallon of petrol; match tickets; food; alcohol; train tickets and replica shirts.